Broom-bridle.



. 22, IQIS.

Patented Dec. 19,1916.

TQE.

CHARLES BOUFFIER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BRO OM-BRIDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

Application filed January 28, 1916, Serial No. 74,792. Renewed September 22, 1916. Serial No. 121,691.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES BOUFFIER, a citizen of the United States, resident of New York city, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom-Bridles, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to attachments for brooms, and particularly an improved broom bridle to be secured about the bristles of the broom to give to the same increased rigidity, thereby preventing breaking of the bristles, and enabling the broom to be used with great force and effect.

Another object is to provide such a device which may be adjusted so that the rigidity of the bristles may be increased or diminished as desired.

A further object is the production of such a device which will be simple in construction and very inexpensive to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a broom provided with my improved bridle, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bridle showing the locking rod raised, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view showing the upper end of one of the guard members, and Fig. 5 is an inverted enlarged view showing the lower end of one of the guard members and a modified form of attaching the rods.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, my invention comprises members 10 and 11, U-shape in cross-section, and formed of thin metal, the longitudinal edges being turned back as at 12. The said members are connected together at their lower edges by rods 14 and 15 engaging holes 16 of the same, the ends of the rods being bent over upon the said members so that this said bent over portion 16 is parallel with the intermediate portion of the rod and tightly engages the said members, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. At the top the members 10 and 11 are connected at the back by means of a rod 17, in a man- 1161' similar to the attachment of the rods 14 and 15. At the front the said members are provided with a connecting rod 18 hingedly connected to the member 11, and adapted to engage at its forward end openings 19 and 20, provided in the member 10. The forward end of the said rod is provided with a slightly rearwardly and inwardly inclined portion 21 pointed at its end, which when the bridle is attached to the broom is embedded in the bristles. The material forming the member 10 above the openings is indented as at 22, so that the member 18 engages the opening with a rotary movement in a vertical plane. The portion 21 is so inclined that the same engages the member 14 with a snap action. The bridle may be adjusted by changing the rod '18 from the opening 19 to the opening 20, and vice versa.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified form of attaching the connecting rods to the guard members. The end portions of the rods are turned down as at 23, and the extremities 24 are turned outwardly. This downwardly bent portion 23 is embedded in the turned back edge 12 of the guard, the said edge being formed snugly about the extremity 24 of the rod to prevent the same from becoming detached from the guard.

With my improvements, a very inexpensive and effectual device of this character is provided which may be conveniently and readily attached and detached to brooms, and is adjustable thereon. With its use great protection is afforded the broom, thereby increasing its life, and the same may be used for sweeping and scrubbing with much greater effect than heretofore.

I have illustrated and .described a preferred and satisfactory form of my invention, but it is obvious that changes may be made therein within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An improved attachment for brooms comprising guard members U-shaped in cross-section, rods pivotally connecting at their opposite ends to the lower ends of said members, a relatively shorter rod connecting the upper ends of said members at one side, and a rod hingedly connected at the other side to one of said members and adapted to detachably engage the other of said members.

2. An improved attachment for brooms, comprising guard members, U-shaped in cross-section, rods connecting the lower ends of said members, a relatively shorter rod connecting the upper ends at one side, and a rod hingedly connected at the other side to one of said members, and provided at its forward end With a slightly rearwardly downwardly and inwardly inclined portion,

the other of said members being provided With a plurality of openings whereof the upper edges are swaged inward, the said for- 10 Ward end of the said hingedly connected rod being adapted to detachably engage one of said openings by a swinging movement in a substantially vertical plane.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in 15 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. l a 

